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Brass O Ring for Ring Buckle/tree hugger

I found 1" brass 'O' rings for $0.99 each that are rated at 500#. I am planning on using these for the ring buckle suspension for my 2 daughters' hammocks. I was thinking about using these as well for the tree hugger to loop my webbing thru instead of a Dutch Clip, would the 500# be acceptable to hold me at 230#? Should I double up on the rings to increase the strength? What are your thoughts?

I use the sling rings and I'm close to your weight, @ 220. No problems at all with them. They guarantee them to @ 250 lbs. but at one time they had a statement on their web site that they could lift a 3,000 machine. They've since removed this, probably for liability reasons as tehy don't sell them for mountain climbing purposes and so don't want someone going out and climbing Everest with them. I've been hanging from these for a couple years now and they show no signs of wear or distortion. Plus the color options are pretty cool to have IMHO.

If the rating is accurate - I think you're good to go. The ring buckle system uses two rings on each end anyway, so you're covered for more than just the 500lbs per end.

I have used, for a very very long time, those cheap $1 non-climbing accessory carabiners you get at Walmart or Home Depot (or any big box store) that say "150lbs" on the side. Just one on each end. Never had an issue with them. I do only weigh 165, but I also hang my pack on one end.

That said... hang low. And I'm not recommending anyone do the same with the non-rated carabiners. Just sharing my experience.

Last edited by sclittlefield; 12-23-2009 at 15:10.
Reason: emphasize the "if"

Just a word of caution. On my first hammock I used the very same brass rings. I used two rings on each end with the straps fed through in typical ring buckle fashion. After using the hammock on and off for about a week, mostly just testing, I noticed one of the rings was deformed. After checking all of them I found they had all bent, at least a little. They were all oval instead of round. I'm sure they would have either broke or deformed enough to not function very quickly. Needless to say, I removed them immediately.

I tried the next larger size, 1-1/4" I think, and steel instead of brass, and they seemed to be okay. Shortly after that I replaced them with the SMC decending rings from REI. Much lighter and much stronger.

Yea, somewhere here on HF is a table of stresses on a hammock system, I seem to remember that my 200 lbs translates to around 900 lbs of force when close to a horizontal hang (30 degrees?), & the closer to horizontal you get, the force increases exponentially. My rings are rated to 2300. I think the sound you will hear just before going to ground is "PING".
Just remember one of the rules of hanging: Don't hang higher than you are willing to fall.

When you have a backpack on, no matter where you are, you’re home.
PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.